Hands-on solutions to reduce emissions

Literally driving the environmental necessities home may support technology in engines old and new.

Dieter Zetsche is a man of surprises. As an engineer, Chairman of DaimlerChrysler and Head of its Mercedes Car Group, he might be expected to regard the advanced technology on which his company is based as potentially providing the answers to almost all the challenges facing the automotive industry in the 21st century-including the increasingly contentious and difficult issue of CO₂ emissions legislation.

But he does not and he explained why. “As well as technology, driver education is also very important,” said Zetsche. “Using the same products to travel from A to B, individual drivers can arrive at the end of a journey with widely different fuel consumption and emissions figures without affecting the time taken. Some 85% of our trucks are collected from the factory by the drivers who will use them, and they can undergo an extensive educational course with the objective of showing them how to achieve optimum fuel consumption. We see dramatic results-and receive grateful letters from the owners of trucking companies.”